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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26780518">we can try &amp; it'll be alright</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/gignikinszz/pseuds/gignikinszz'>gignikinszz</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, all of their friends are bastards, and they were ROOMMATES, oh my god and they were roommates, serendipity is a bitch, tropes in a trenchcoat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:02:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,983</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26780518</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/gignikinszz/pseuds/gignikinszz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Anakin was feeling a lot more ambivalent about his random roommate when it wasn't the dude he'd had a fling with four years ago on the beach where he grew up. Now, everything was complicated and all his friends were laughing like the bastards they were.</p><p>Or: In which an old fling becomes a roommate, an awkward breakfast is had, and feelings are felt. Not necessarily in that order.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Minor or Background Relationship(s), Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Satine Kryze</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>105</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>we can try &amp; it'll be alright</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>No one:<br/>Me: *projects my shitty, ancient, AC-less dorm room onto obi &amp; ani's apartment*</p><p>un-beta'd, i live on the edge. enjoy!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anakin was still running around like a chicken with its head cut off when move-in day came, trying to gather stuff from all over his house and tripping over his dogs, his mom, Ahsoka, really everything he came across.</p><p>It was his third year at Coruscant University, so really, he should’ve been used to it by then, but he’d never lived in the campus’ apartment housing before, so he blamed all the knives and plates and shit he had to gather for the delay.</p><p>Eventually, finally, he and his mom got into the car and ended up outside of his apartment building 3 hours later, where there was a woman there to meet them with blue eyeliner and a tablet, which she looked at for a long moment before noticing Anakin and his mom.</p><p>“Welcome to The Temple apartment complex!” She said, clearly faking her smile. “Let’s get you started on check-in.” Anakin didn’t miss that she failed to give her name, but he honestly couldn’t be bothered to care as he grabbed a laundry basket full of shit to haul up and scrambled to follow her. The apartment was on the third floor, which wouldn’t have been such an issue if it hadn’t been 95 degrees out and if there had been air conditioning.</p><p>“It’s crazy,” the lady said, “we haven’t had a summer this hot in years!” Anakin could only nod his agreement, to sweaty to worry about doing anything more. Tatooine got hot in the summers, sure, but they had <em>air conditioning</em> there.</p><p>When they finally got up to the landing, the lady mercifully let him take a moment to catch his breath before leading him over to his room, talking him through some housing agreement stuff the whole way and giving him the key right in front of the door.</p><p>“Oh,” the woman said, stopping him before they went in and looking at something on her tablet, “I should inform you; there’s been a mix-up with your roommate.”</p><p>Anakin almost ran into her with the laundry basket he was lugging and forced himself to balance it on his hip. “What do you mean? Has something happened with, ah, Quinlan?” All he knew about the boy he was supposed to be rooming with was his name, but that didn’t stop him from worrying. Money was tight, a single room was hella expensive, and Anakin wouldn’t put it past the university to charge him for something he hadn’t asked for.</p><p>The woman nodded. “Yes, unfortunately, he has made the decision to drop out of the university. Fortunately, though, we have found another person to fill that slot, so you won’t have to pay for a single room.”</p><p>Anakin nodded. That was good; he couldn’t afford one. “So who is it?”</p><p>The woman smiled and looked at her list. “Let’s see, his name is, ah—”</p><p>When the door opened, Anakin dropped the basket.</p><p>His roommate was nice enough to help him gather the stuff that had fallen all over the landing, but it unfortunately led to a couple awkward, sweaty hand-brushes and even a bump of heads that fucking <em>hurt</em>.</p><p>Obi-Wan Kenobi.</p><p>Before Anakin could even process it, though, his mom was up the stairs and Obi-Wan was handing him the basket and the trade-off led to more involuntary hand contact and Anakin wanted to die.</p><p>“Ani, who’s this?” his mom asked, looking at Obi-Wan over the box she was carrying.</p><p>The guide, who had just been standing there awkwardly as Anakin scrambled about for his shit, cleared her throat. “Ah, yes, I was just about to introduce them. There was a mix-up in the room assignments, so, ah, this is—”</p><p>“Obi-Wan Kenobi,” Anakin said before she did. The words felt like a punch in the gut and honey in his mouth at the same time. He felt suddenly self-conscious about the scar he’d gotten a year ago driving home from school and his sweat-soaked shirt and brow and, well, <em>everything</em>, really. It had been <em>years</em>, and—</p><p>“I’m sorry,” he said in that same voice he’d used so many years ago, “but how do you know my name?”</p><p>Anakin felt like he’d been punched—again—and his face burned even more under the heat of the hallway and the ginger boy’s gaze. Of course Obi-Wan didn’t remember him. It was fitting, anyways. Still, though, a lot of eyes were on him and he had to explain, so he pointed to himself and said, “Uh, Anakin. The beach, when you rented that house, in—”</p><p>“—Tatooine,” Obi-Wan finished for him, quietly. “Um, I—”</p><p>“So good to hear you two already know each other,” the girl said, smiling awkwardly and clearly desperate to get away. Fair. “Looks like you’ll get along great! Um, you have your key and we did everything else, so, uh, just let me know if you have any questions!” Then she bolted away, gone in a blink, probably to go gossip to her coworkers or some shit, leaving no one between Anakin and Obi-Wan.</p><p>Anakin’s mom thankfully didn’t remember Obi-Wan, nor Obi-Wan her, which was admittedly a bit awkward, but less awkward than her <em>remembering</em> would have been.</p><p>“So you two knew each other then?” She asked Obi-Wan as he took the box out of her hands. Let it never be said that Obi-Wan Kenobi wasn’t chivalrous.</p><p>He nodded. “My dad and I stayed in the Organas’ beach house down there one year, and Anakin did maintenance. We were, ah, good friends.”</p><p>Anakin didn’t know whether or not to be grateful for the lie, but before he had time to figure it out, all the boxes were in his room and he was hugging his mom goodbye, and then he was alone in his apartment. With Obi-Wan. <em>Their</em> apartment.</p><p>Deciding to put all his stuff away later, he walked back out to the living area and sat down next to Obi-Wan on the couch, as bravely as he could.</p><p>The other boy turned to look at him for a moment before speaking.</p><p>“You look different now,” he said quietly, as though someone other than Anakin might’ve been listening and it was a secret only he got to hear.</p><p>Anakin shrugged. “The city, I guess,” he said, just as softly. “You look the same, though. Just older.”</p><p>Obi-Wan puffed out a laugh at that, and it made Anakin’s chest hurt. He’d <em>missed</em> him. He’d missed him like hell. If the feeling hadn’t seemed so one-sided, Anakin would’ve jumped at him right there on the couch and tried to pick up where they left off. But Obi-Wan was staring out into the living room, not even looking at him, and Anakin wasn’t too stupid to take a hint.</p><p>“I gotta unpack,” he said. “Guess I’ll be seeing you later.” He tried for a lighthearted tone, but it came out more reluctant than he’d anticipated. Oops.</p><p>Before he got to his door, though, he turned back. His brain caught up to what was happening and he… he didn’t need this to be awkward. And, more pressingly, he was <em>not</em> about to fuck his entire year up just because he and his <em>random roommate</em> had history of the romantic variety.</p><p>“By the way,” he said, facing Obi-Wan again, “whatever we had… That was then, yeah? We really shouldn’t, you know. Yeah.”</p><p>He retreated fast to go sweat about it in his room, worried Obi-Wan was going to argue, to claim it <em>wasn’t</em> a horrible idea, or worse, laugh at him for even suggesting it, but there was no argument from the other side of the small living area.</p><p>Obi-Wan just nodded and let him go.</p><p>--</p><p>“So wait,” Satine said, shoving a forkful of salad into her mouth. “You and this Anakin had an affair when you were 16, which ended with you never calling him because you thought you’d never have a chance to see him again, and now he’s your roommate?”</p><p>Obi-Wan didn’t answer, instead just taking a long sip of his coffee.</p><p>“Oh, my god,” Satine laughed. “Could your luck get any better? I mean, this is the perfect opportunity for you two to, you know, rekindle that old flame.”</p><p>Obi-Wan snorted. “Please, Sati, I’m pretty sure he hates me for the aforementioned never calling.”</p><p>She rolled her eyes. “Sure. That’s why he didn’t recognize you when he saw you.” Okay, she might’ve had a point, but Obi-Wan wasn’t incredibly inclined to admit it.</p><p>Instead of responding, he looked down at his coffee and stared at it as if it held the secrets of the universe. He didn’t usually drink coffee, but he’d been restless the night before for reasons definitely for sure absolutely unrelated to Anakin’s arrival a few days before and now he was exhausted. He was well-aware of Satine staring at him from across the table, chewing her salad politely, and it only crossed his mind to wonder <em>who</em> in their <em>right mind</em> ate salad for <em>breakfast</em> for a second before a familiar voice cut into his thoughts.</p><p>“Satine!” Padme said, coming up behind the other woman and flinging her arms around her. “I didn’t know you were going to be here this morning.”</p><p>Padme was so wrapped up in being wrapped around Satine’s shoulders that she didn’t notice Obi-Wan until her girlfriend pointed him out. “Obi-Wan and I decided we were going to catch up this morning,” Satine said with a grin, looking to Padme’s face over her left shoulder. “What are you doing over here?”</p><p>Padme laughed and let go of Satine (thank <em>god,</em> it was starting to get awkward) and pulled up a chair next to her. “Well, me and Anakin wanted to get some food before…”</p><p>Padme’s voice trailed off as Obi-Wan caught sight of Anakin, who was standing awkwardly behind Satine and apparently had been for awhile, he just hadn’t noticed. Oh <em>god</em>. He couldn’t even escape him outside of their apartment.</p><p>It wasn’t that he <em>dreaded</em> seeing Anakin, per se. They weren’t enemies. At least, Obi-Wan didn’t think so, even as offended as Anakin had been when he hadn’t remembered him. In his defense, though, Anakin looked so <em>different</em>. His hair had fully darkened to a nutty brown, probably as a result of being away from the bleach, and a scar had ripped its way through his lovely face, through his right eyebrow and cheek and barely missing his eye. And, from what he remembered, the arm was different as well. Anakin was also a lot more muscular, and it made him desperately wish he could say the same for himself.</p><p>Not that it was all different, though. Those eyes were still bright and blue, and they shone when he laughed. And he still laughed often, thankfully. His room, from what Obi-Wan had seen was just as bright as it had been when he was a teenager, and he was still always tearing something apart to fix it. His lips were still full and beautiful, though thinking about that brought back a few memories that really weren’t helping the situation, and his smile was still so radiant, and—</p><p>Not that Obi-Wan was staring or anything.</p><p>By the time Satine and Padme had (with some not-very-subtle looks toward each other) convinced Anakin to pull up a chair between Obi-Wan and Satine, effectively knocking their knees together a few times before the other man got settled.</p><p>Anakin just gave Obi-Wan an awkward smile as he sat and busied himself with the menu, while Padme and Satine looked at each other and immediately had to stifle their laughs. Anakin seemed content to ignore their snickers in favor of burying his face deeper in the menu, which Obi-Wan could understand, but he wasn’t quite so willing to ignore the elephant at the table.</p><p>“It’s not funny,” he said, raising an eyebrow at the two women. Anakin was now so buried in his menu his nose was almost touching it.</p><p>Padme giggled a little and blinked at him. “What’s not funny?”</p><p>He scowled at her. “You know what.”</p><p>Satine didn’t answer him, but she did turn to Anakin and say, “Can I see your menu? I’m thinking of getting something else.” Her smile was innocent, but her eyes were evil.</p><p>The poor man handed it over grudgingly and set his forearms on the edge of the table, the metal one hitting with a loud <em>clang</em>. He was still slumped over in a way that was bound to make his back hurt later, and Obi-Wan resisted the urge to put his hands on him and straighten it out. Among other things. <em>No!</em> Shit.</p><p>If he couldn’t stop thinking about Anakin like this, how the hell was he going to survive the semester? They used the same <em>shower</em>, for god’s sake. There was no way he could make it. Not without doing something stupid.</p><p>“I think it’s hilarious,” Satine said lightly, setting the menu she’d confiscated from Anakin down next to her and putting her elbow over it. Cruel. Anakin clearly thought so too, as he scowled at her for it. “I mean,” she said, ignoring the annoyed looks the men at the table were shooting her, “It’s a bit awkward for you two, but hilarious for us.”</p><p>Padme nodded, then caught the death glare Anakin was giving her for her agreeance and rolled her eyes. “Oh, be nice Ani.” Her smile was soft, but then she looked between them and her eyes took on a glint that Obi-Wan classified as dangerous. He took a sip of his now-lukewarm coffee in preparation. “Not all of us get a single room for the price of a double.”</p><p>As it turned out, the coffee was a bad idea, because as soon as Padme finished her sentence he started choking on it.</p><p>He vaguely heard Anakin yelling something at Padme through his hacking, and Satine laughing, and felt Anakin’s knee bump his a few times—probably involuntarily, though it wasn’t like he minded—but it was a few minutes before he was okay enough to reach for the nearest glass of water and take a sip.</p><p>“That’s my fucking—damnit,” Anakin said exasperated, and Obi-Wan remembered that the water wasn’t actually his.</p><p>“Sorry,” he rasped, as he set the glass down and shot a glare at Padme. “I was choking.”</p><p>Anakin, steaming, snatched his glass back. “I noticed,” he said dryly.</p><p>Even annoyed, the light hit the other man’s hair just right and turned it back to blond, to gold, to the way Obi-Wan remembered it from mornings waking up with a figure curled lazily around him, already awake but mercifully letting him sleep, and it made Obi-Wan’s mouth go suddenly dry and he had to resist the urge to grab Anakin’s water again. Or, maybe, his face, and—</p><p>God, his mind was running away from him. It took all his effort to not look at Anakin’s lips again, as he knew Anakin was watching, and it was a line he didn’t want to cross. Finding out Obi-Wan was still harboring feelings for him would probably just upset the now-brunet even more, which was the last thing he was equipped to deal with.</p><p>Instead, he raised an eyebrow. “Glad to hear you can at least use some of your senses,” he said coolly.</p><p>Anakin snorted, breaking the odd tension between them. “That was lame,” he said, and Obi-Wan had to shrug. He was right, after all.</p><p>Padme and Satine gave each other a look, but mercifully didn’t say anything about the moment. When they picked up the conversation again a second later, it was thankfully on another topic.</p><p>Obi-Wan didn’t need to look at Anakin for the rest of the meal. The image of him, with the sun hitting his hair and a challenge on his face and a million unspoken things between them, was going to be stuck in his mind for a long time.</p><p>--</p><p>The next few weeks passed quickly, despite the struggles of living with someone Anakin would <em>very much</em> like to sleep with.</p><p>He had been busy with classes and therefore hadn’t had too much time to stress over the whole roommate situation, which he appreciated. It wasn’t that he wanted to <em>avoid</em> the subject, per se, it was just that, well, getting stuck taking cold showers his entire semester wasn’t exactly his idea of a good time. Not that it didn’t happen a few times before he learned to distract himself. Because Obi-Wan apparently had reading glasses now, and that was <em>apparently</em> a turn-on, and Anakin didn’t really need the stress of wanting to date/fuck his roommate on top of everything else.</p><p>The temptation persisted, though. When Obi-Wan sat reading on the couch, or when he was hunched over the table doing homework, or standing in the kitchen burning water, it was always in the back of Anakin’s mind. To slip off those stupid glasses or grab his face and turn his head to Anakin or to skip the pleasantries altogether and stick his tongue in the other man’s mouth and his hands wherever, among other things.</p><p>Yeah, he got really good at distracting himself.</p><p>The biggest issue, though, was those other hiccups, the times he could almost convince himself it would work, the times it was so <em>painfully</em> obvious that he’d been wrong the first day and  that Obi-Wan still had feelings for him. When they’d run right into each other in the living room and stop for a few moments, and Obi-Wan would look at Anakin’s lips and pretend he was blinking and Anakin would stare into his eyes and count the colors before dragging his vision away and brushing the man’s arm as he forced himself to move onto wherever he was going. Or when they sat down on the couch, talking, a respectable distance apart, but by the time Anakin was standing up to go to bed their thighs would be brushing and Obi-Wan would be close enough to kiss. Or the time Anakin asked him to make a salad but he somehow, at 20, didn’t know how to properly chop a fucking carrot so Anakin placed his hands over Obi-Wan’s and guided him through it, and by the time they were done he was pressed to the other man’s back and the urge to press a kiss to his cheek was overwhelming.</p><p>Not that it would’ve been a good idea, not in the slightest. If they <em>were</em> together, and something happened, it would’ve spelled disaster for Anakin’s entire life. If Obi-Wan moved out, he’d be fucked, but if Obi-Wan stayed, it would be unbearable. It was a lose-lose situation, and Anakin hated all the options.</p><p>Incidents of the roommate variety aside, however, Anakin thought he was doing pretty well. The days were getting cooler, which meant the apartment wasn’t as fucking hot anymore, he wasn’t failing any classes yet, and Ahsoka was actually calling regularly from her fancy private college over in Mandalore, where she’d apparently picked a fight with some heavily-tattooed, skinny biker dude and won and had also met Satine’s sister, who, according to her, was nothing like Satine. It sounded like she was having a blast, which honestly would’ve hurt less if she didn’t laugh at Anakin every time he mentioned Obi-Wan.</p><p>He asked her once if she remembered him, and she told him that she’d been 14 and hadn’t been assed to care, but it was funny now, so she wished she had. He’d started avoiding the topic after that conversation.</p><p>Regardless of the humor, Anakin could feel the tension strung through the apartment, like a thread ready to snap all the damn time. It was only a matter of time, really, until it broke.</p><p>That was probably why it didn’t surprise him when Obi-Wan finally, after their hundredth slightly homoerotic staring contest in the kitchen, sat him down on their couch and asked him if he still had leftover feelings floating around his head.</p><p>Anakin blinked when he heard the question, taken aback by the frankness. “Uh, what?” He asked, unsure of what Obi-Wan was doing. He could’ve been trying to do the thing Anakin had explicitly said to not do his first day there, or he could’ve been clearing the air. The uncertainty was an itch under Anakin’s skin that made him want to squirm, to run away.</p><p>“Do you, you know,” the other man shifted, uncomfortable, “have feelings for me still?”</p><p>The immediate answer in his brain was <em>yes, of course I do</em>, and, a second later, <em>I know you do, I’ve seen you looking</em>, and then, the third part of the answer, <em>forget it, it’s never gonna happen</em>, and Anakin remembered why he hated being honest with his feelings so much. It was a terrible idea, but he wanted it so <em>badly</em>, but he couldn’t bring himself to risk everything he had there for it, and he honestly just wanted to call his mom and finally explain the whole situation to her and ask her for any and all advice she’d be willing to give, because he <em>didn’t fucking know what to say.</em></p><p>It wasn’t like Obi-Wan was asking for the truth or anything. If he had any brain cells left, he just wanted Anakin to say no so they could move on with their lives.</p><p>The word stuck in the back of Anakin’s throat, and instead, he felt himself blushing and letting out an “ummmm,” that was far more telling than it needed to be.</p><p>Obi-Wan nodded slowly. “Anakin,” he started, as though he were trying not to scare a small animal, “I—”</p><p>“No,” Anakin said, forcing it painfully from his chest, throwing it at Obi-Wan and shooting down whatever he was about to say. “I don’t—no.”</p><p>Anakin got up and made to leave, to hide himself in his room until he had to come out and prevent Obi-Wan from burning the kitchen down, but a hand like a vice around his arm stopped him and Obi-Wan stepped closer.</p><p>“You’re lying,” he said, looking slightly up at Anakin, the words a low whisper that went straight to the part of Anakin’s brain that had decided to make itself a little shrine to Obi-Wan. “I know you are.”</p><p>Anakin pressed his lips into a tight line. “Then why did you ask?” he whispered, just as low and dangerous as the other man, and he watched as his throat bobbed and he swallowed.</p><p>“I wanted the truth,” Obi-Wan said, a hard look on his face. “If you were willing to give it.” There was something almost like disappointment in his eyes when he let Anakin’s arm go, standing there and waiting for him to move.</p><p>Anakin couldn’t, and it wasn’t just because he didn’t like being pinned like this, or because Obi-Wan was right and it pissed him off and he desperately wanted something to say about it.</p><p>He didn’t want to think on why, so instead, he just brought his hand up and placed a fist gently under Obi-Wan’s chin. Not quite a threat, but still not an acquiescence to Obi-Wan’s claim. That he <em>felt something</em>. Even if it were true, Anakin didn’t want to deal with it, so he left his fist there and let Obi-Wan raise an eyebrow at him, though he would’ve left if he’d known what the other man was about to say.</p><p>“If you’re going to kiss me, just get on with it,” he said lowly, looking up at Anakin through his lashes, his eyes spelling out <em>exactly</em> what he wanted Anakin to do. It made his fist shake, so he dropped it to the center of Obi-Wan’s chest and spread it out, extending his fingers and thinking to push him away.</p><p>It was a battle of wills, and Anakin’s, already weakened by his wants, failed first.</p><p>It was gentle at first, when Anakin kissed him, but Obi-Wan started kissing him back like his life depended on it and he couldn’t resist showing the same enthusiasm. It had been <em>forever</em> since they’d done this, Anakin felt like, and from what he could recall, it was a million times better. The push-and-pull of it, the hands that gripped his hips, the softness of the other man’s hair under his fingers, all cast a spell that had Anakin reconsidering how bad it could <em>possibly</em> be to break his promise to himself concerning Obi-Wan and let it happen.</p><p>And this time, Anakin thought, getting carried away, it could be so much more than what it had been. More than a week on a cold-ass beach in near-November, more than a couple of kisses and innocently shared beds, more than Anakin’s mom asking him if he’d remembered to give Obi-Wan his number. It could <em>last</em> because Obi-Wan was <em>staying</em> this time, and—</p><p>As soon as Anakin had the idea to ask, he pushed Obi-Wan away and started talking before he could think twice about it.</p><p>“Go out with me,” he gasped. “Be with me. I just—if you want this, this time, say you’ll—”</p><p>“Yes.” The answer was immediate as soon as Obi-Wan came to his senses, gasped out as the hands on Anakin’s hips tightened. “<em>Yes</em>,” Obi-Wan repeated, digging in, pulling Anakin closer.</p><p>It made Anakin’s head spin. This was it. This was him finally <em>getting</em>, this was—</p><p>“Stupid,” Anakin said, pushing away as his brain finally snapped out of its kiss-drunk stupor and caught up with his mouth. “No, no, no, never mind, this is <em>stupid</em>, I mean, we already <em>live together</em>, what if something happens, and—"</p><p>“Anakin,” Obi-Wan said, stopping him in his tracks, not even phased in the face of Anakin’s total emotional 180. He’d wound his hands around Anakin’s waist while Anakin was freaking out, and was so close they could lean their foreheads together. “Nothing is going to happen.”</p><p>Anakin shook his head until Obi-Wan pressed his forehead to Anakin’s. “You don’t know that,” he said. “What if we fight, or you realize how much you hate me after all, or—”</p><p>“If I was going to hate you,” Obi-Wan interrupted softly, still holding tight to Anakin so he couldn’t run like he wanted to, “I would have started a long time ago. You gave me plenty of opportunity, if you’ll remember,” he said, lips twisting into a smile. But he couldn’t be <em>joking</em>, not during a conversation like <em>this</em>. “And,” Obi-Wan continued before Anakin could say anything, serious now, “I’d honestly rather have an argument with you than spend another minute in awkward silence.”</p><p>Anakin opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to wrap his head around what Obi-Wan was saying. He had a <em>point</em>. The awkward silences and ignored, longing stares were getting kind of annoying.</p><p>Obi-Wan cleared his throat when Anakin didn’t say anything. “Plus,” he said, trying to hide a smile, “You already asked me out. And I already said yes. So, really, if you were to go back on it now, that would be an embarrassingly short relationship, and I, for one—”</p><p>“Okay, okay,” Anakin said, feeling a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, “You might have a point or two. But really,” he said, looking into Obi-Wan’s eyes, long-suffering, “I wanted to <em>avoid</em> giving Satine and Padme and Ahsoka the satisfaction.”</p><p>Obi-Wan smiled. “I know, but I still think—”</p><p>“No, I know what you’re saying,” Anakin sighed. “You have a point, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tired of all the weird… romantic… whatever,” he said, waving a hand in the air, “around here. But I just…” He looked away for a moment, trying to gather himself.</p><p>“I promise you, nothing will happen,” Obi-Wan said, reading his mind. “Not between you and I.” He stopped for a moment, and Anakin looked back at him to see him as earnest as ever. “It’s like the universe intended for us to be together,” he whispered. “I know what happened last time you asked if I could be yours, and that was my fault entirely, but now… I don’t have those doubts. And if you’re willing to try, I think we could make it work.”</p><p>Anakin took a long moment to think about that. Between his feelings for Obi-Wan and the embarrassment of having to confess to them and the pain of feeling like he had to push Obi-Wan away, he was dealing with quite a bit of emotional whiplash and it was all hitting him in the chest. But the man he’d just asked to be his <em>something</em> had asked him if he was willing to try and he owed him an answer.</p><p>He’d never really <em>dated</em> anyone before. It had all just been hookups, and flings with rich teenagers vacationing on Tatooine beach, just like Obi-Wan. He didn’t even know what it was that made Obi-Wan stand out; perhaps it was his dimples, or the night he’d gotten smashed and tried to make a pass at him, or the next day when they’d both felt like shit about it but had crawled back to each other by the end. There had been some unnamable quality about him, even back then, that had drawn Anakin in, loathe as he was to follow through on it.</p><p>But he could be committed, he thought. He could be there, and whatever else he had to be. He could do it for Obi-Wan, for that thing that kept drawing him in, even when it was a horrible idea and Anakin knew it. And though he’d only known Obi-Wan for, like, a month, he felt like he <em>knew</em> him already. He could trust him.</p><p>He could <em>try</em>.</p><p>“I can do that,” he said, Obi-Wan’s now-grinning face between his hands, standing close enough to kiss again. “Yeah.”</p><p>Obi-Wan’s response was to kiss him, long enough to push every remaining whisper of a doubt from his mind and fill him with a surety that it was actually, like Obi-Wan said, going to be alright.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>and then they lived happily ever after or some shit :))</p><p>anyways i'm definitely 80% done with a prequel to this featuring a week on a cold-ass beach and some underage drinking because I wanted to, ok?</p><p>thank you for reading!!! let me know what you think down in the comments or come say hi to me on my tumblr, @gignikinszz &gt;:)) :&gt;</p></blockquote></div></div>
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